9 for 9 – September Mini Reviews

Woohoo it’s the first Friday of the month- which means Mini Reviews! And since this is gonna be a long one, let’s get started!!

I am the Messenger– I desperately wanted this to be the Book Thief, but it’s not I didn’t really latch onto the characters as much as I wanted to and the best one in it was a dog called the Doorman. While this book did have some interesting messages, I’m not sure this book totally delivered.

Rating: 3/5 bananas

The Paper Magician– you know a book has failed when you get to the end and you’ve forgotten it’s supposed to be set somewhere historical, especially if your main complaint is that there was too much world building. The style just doesn’t lend itself to the era. Plus I just connect with the characters. Or anything else for that matter.

Rating: 2/5 bananas

Landline– There was nothing technically wrong with this book, so my rating may seem really harsh, but I just did not relate to it at all. I didn’t relate to the characters, the situation or get the whole phone thing. I guess I Rainbow Rowell is just hit and miss for me.

Rating: 2½/5 bananas

When Dimple Met Rishi– Okay- finally a book on here I liked! Like all good contemporaries the characters are what shone here. At first I found Dimple to be a bit of a crank, buuuut she definitely grew on me and she also presented a nice contrast to the male love interest. And as for Rishi… ahh my sweet buttecup- how I loved him!! I also loved their budding relationship. However, I do think this book was longer than it needed to be, with unnecessary padding and focus on aspects I was less interested in, which was the only thing that stopped me from falling head over heels for this book.

Rating: 4/5 bananas

Serafina and the Black Cloak– I LOVED the style and the story here. It was so so inventive an really well done. I also wasn’t expecting the ending to be so good and mushy- it just took the whole thing to another level! If you want a book that’s gonna just fill you with joy pick this up! Also shout out to the awesome Daley Downing who sent this to me along with her book!!

Rating: 4½/5 bananas

Saint Anything– *minor spoilers* this story was mostly fine… except for the parents in this book. I could rant for ages about how totally USELESS they were. I know a lot of parents get stick in YA for being lousy, but these ones really took the biscuit. Basically, for some unknowable reason, they had all the faith in the world for their dysfunctional jailbird son, yet couldn’t trust their sensible daughter. Plus, not only did they get all overprotective about everything she did, like hanging out with a pretty apple-pie kind of family, but they simultaneously set things up so that a SEXUAL PREDATOR waits for her when she gets home, babysits whenever they visit their son in prison and eventually invite him to move in. I mean *seriously*? These parents couldn’t let the girl sneeze on her own, yet they let it get to the point where the low-life former druggie almost rapes her?! I didn’t get that at all. Annnnd I know all I’ve done is complain about the parents in this book, so it might seem strange that the rating isn’t too low, but I swear everything else about this book was enjoyable enough.

Rating: 3/5 bananas

The Outsiders– as I mentioned in my Book VS Book post, I had mixed feelings about this book. For starters, I felt that it was stylistically quite stilted and found the excruciating detail of descriptions somewhat unnecessary. HOWEVER it was very moving at times and I *loved* the full circle effect of making the ending and beginning meet. Seriously, that was pure genius. So while I wasn’t too crazy about the clunky-at-times writing style, I can appreciate that this is a good book and deserves its moniker as a classic.

Rating: 3/5 bananas

The Vampire Lestat– okay so I was recommended this *years and years* ago and it has been sitting on my tbr since I found it in a charity shop back in ’14. To be honest, the whole vampire fad thing made me kind of reluctant to pick it up. I was glad I finally did recently though, because while Interview with a Vampire didn’t do too much for me (because of the mc mainly) I do love Rice’s gorgeous writing style. I did prefer this to Interview, mostly cos I *love* Lestat so much more as a character. Still, I wasn’t too bowled over with the plot- partly because it dragged a little, but mostly because I don’t know why vampire stories always have to be so obsessed with origin stories. Either way, this was an enjoyable read, whether you’re into vamp stories or not.

Rating: 4/5 bananas

The Bride– don’t let the rating fool you, I had a lot of fun with this book. Much more than I expected to. If you want a good romp through the Scottish highlands, this is great. Simply put, it’s outlander without the rape and time travel. However, I won’t pretend like this blew me away or anything, as much as it was fun to read, hence the lower rating (I did read this on a 9 hour bus ride though, so I don’t know if grogginess was a factor in my enjoyment).

Rating: 3/5 bananas

Okay, so this might be my last bout of mini reviews for a while since I’ve pretty much cleared the decks- unless by some miracle I read a lot of books in the next month…. (crazier things have happened 😉 ) Hope you enjoyed that!

Have you read any of these? What did you think of them? Let me know in the comments!

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39 thoughts on “9 for 9 – September Mini Reviews”

Julie Garwood’s historicals are a guilty pleasure of mine. Great mini reviews! I might have to read when Dimple Met Rishi one day. Everyone seems to rave about that story. Oh, also, Vampire Lestat! Yes! I’m glad you highly rated that one. I love Anne Rice!

hehe I think they’re going to be the same for me tbh 😉 Thank you!! It’s really good- the kind of book that just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside. Yes!! I love her writing style so much!! So beautiful!! Looking forward to reading the third one soon as well 😀

I’m so happy you loved When Dimple Met Rishi, it was such an adorable book 🙂 But damn, these parents in Saint Anything…they sound veeeeeeeery bad ahah, and I’ve read my share of bad parents in books. It’s such a shame though I’m glad to hear you managed to enjoy the rest of the book ahah 🙂
Great post! 🙂

Yes!! It really was 😊 hahahah yes!! They really were- fortunately it didn’t overshadow the rest of the book entirely while I was reading it- but afterwards, all I had to say about it was “what is with these parents?!” haha thank you!! 😀

I adore Anne Rice! Her writing is just “romantic” but in the right way. Lestat is such a fascinating character. I also love Armand. She occupies a large portion of my shelves. Glad this did not disappoint 😉

Great mini reviews Orangutan! I really need to read Serafina and the Black Cloak… it sounds so good! I personally love The Bride, I agree with Nel, guilty pleasures. And I loved The Outsiders when I first read it, I just related I guess… I can’t even remember why now ♥️

Thank you!! It is really good- such a pleasant surprise! Hehe I get that- I do want to continue the series, and it’ll end up in that category for me too 😉 I totally get that- it really is a remarkable little book- there’s a lot packed in there! The only reason I rated it lower was cos it took me so long to get into it due to the sixties writing style ❤

Interesting to see your thoughts on The Paper Magician. I’ve seen it pop up a lot, and I love the cover, so was considering reading it… but I wasn’t sure if I’d like it, and your review makes me think I might give it a miss. Funnily enough, I always confuse the book with The Night Circus, due to the similar covers… that’s another one I’m not quite sure whether I’ll read or not!

Yeah I liked the cover a lot, but in the end just didn’t connect with it. Hehe it’s nothing like the night circus (though I get what you mean about the covers) and I have to say that one *is* worth a read! It’s beautifully written and very atmospheric and has a great story- can’t really ask for more than that 😉

Really interesting books you’ve read! I like how your ratings aren’t what a lot of bookworms usually give them too hahaha I remember reading AND watching the Outsiders and enjoying the story. I do plan on re-reading the book now. Looking forward to that! Great reviews!! 😀